Ocean And Coast

Image: Beach in Santa Monica, CA by Johnny Chau / Unsplash

Nearly 75 percent of California’s population lives in coastal counties and along the State’s iconic 1,100 miles of mainland coastline and the San Francisco Bay’s additional 500-mile shoreline. The ocean and coast contributed $41.9 billion to the state’s GDP, provided $19.8 billion in wages and salaries, and supplied 515,465 jobs in 2014. These figures demonstrate how much the people and economy of California rely on the coastline and the ocean. The short- and long-term risks from climate change, such as sea level rise, coastal erosion and beach loss, and ocean acidification will continue to affect a vast number of people and industries. California is one of the world leaders in both addressing climate change and protecting our coastal and ocean habitats and resources. Because of the ever-growing value of California’s coastal areas and our dependence on the coast and ocean for recreation, food, and critical infrastructure such as ports, airports, and power plants, it is important to assess how climate change will impact our ocean and coasts and how to best anticipate, plan, and prepare for these changing ocean conditions.

Sea-Level Rise

Sea-level rise is an immediate and real threat to lives, livelihoods, transportation, economies, and the environment in California. The vast majority of California’s population lives in coastal counties and will directly experience the effects of sea-level rise on their homes, roads, public services, and infrastructure. More frequent and chronic flooding and erosion are inevitable and inland populations are not immune from sea-level rise. Many of the facilities and much of the infrastructure that support California’s ocean economy, as well as the State’s many miles of public beaches, lie within a few feet of the present high tide line and therefore are at risk from future sea-level rise and coastal storm events as a result of a changing climate.

Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidity has increased by 30 percent and is expected to double over pre-industrial levels by the end of this century, as the ocean absorbs one-third of the carbon dioxide generated by human activities. Extensive field studies conducted worldwide already show significant impacts on fisheries and marine ecosystems from ocean acidification, which will worsen in the future. Continued scientific research is critical to advance understanding of the causes, extent and impacts of ocean acidification. Of equal importance is the development and implementation of actions to help reduce the causes of ocean acidification and protect coastal communities and the marine ecosystems from the impacts of an acidifying ocean.

Warming Ocean Temperatures

In addition to contributing to sea level rise, increasing ocean temperatures also has implications for ocean processes and marine ecosystems, including coastal upwelling, ocean productivity, and species distributions and abundances. This can affect the health of fisheries, the occurrence of harmful algal blooms and disease in marine organisms, and the spread of marine invasive species, and thus impact the ocean resources upon which California’s population depend. Therefore, understanding changing ocean temperatures and their effects, along with the effects of other changing ocean conditions, is needed in order for California to plan, prepare, and manage for these potential impacts.

Integration with Assembly Bill 2516 (AB2516)

Passed in 2014, AB2516 (Gordon) called for the California Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the Ocean Protection Council (OPC), to conduct biannual surveys of sea-level rise planning information to catalog California’s efforts to prepare for rising seas. To improve accessibility and usefulness of these resources to support sea-level rise adaptation and resilience, OPC has partnered with OPR to host the AB2516 resources in the Adaptation Clearinghouse. Resources collected as part of this survey include studies, vulnerability assessments, and local coastal programs, among others. Resources gathered through future surveys, as required by AB182 (Berman), will also be included in the Clearinghouse.

The Nature Conservancy. 2017

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Case StudyProject or Example

This report summarizes natural infrastructure projects for a range of settings in coastal California. Each case study covers the background, permitting, planning, implementation, performance, and key lessons learned from each project in order … to provide the critical information needed to implement successful adaptation strategies to address coastal issues, and inspire other communities by highlighting the lessons learned.

California Ocean Protection Council. 2018

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Case Study

The Humboldt Bay Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning Project (Project) is a multi-phased regional collaboration funded by the California State Coastal Conservancy. Its purpose is to inform the public and local agencies of the risk that … sea level rise poses to the communities and environment on Humboldt Bay and identify adaptation strategies and options to protect critical regional assets.

California Ocean Protection Council. 2018

Sea level rise

Case Study

The San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative identified emerging legal risks to local governments concerning sea level rise and spotlighted expertise and knowledge gaps on these issues among their members. The Collaborative, as part of a … large NOAA-funded resiliency project, commissioned a report by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). ELI analyzes five strategies for dealing with sea level rise impacts, and for each of the 5 strategies, provides an overview of the general legal risk and an outline of the legal context. After discussing that information, ELI describes a set of possible scenarios that local governments could face around this strategy.

California Ocean Protection Council. 2018

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Case Study

Regional AdaptLA advances a regional sea level rise and coastal impacts planning process and shares critical scientific information to inform planning efforts. This multi-year project brings together a coalition of local municipalities, Los … Angeles County, and other organizations, including USC Sea Grant. The program increases collaboration among coalition partners, as well as use of the best available science in planning efforts. This has helped many cities to make progress in integrating climate change considerations into their existing planning mechanisms and evaluating potential strategies for addressing sea level rise impacts.

California Ocean Protection Council. 2018

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Case Study

BEACON is a two-county, multi-city, joint powers agency established in 1986 to address coastal erosion, beach nourishment, and clean oceans on the Central Coast. BEACON has been involved in an array of coastal studies and projects in … close coordination with the parks, planning, and public works departments of the member agencies. In recent years, BEACON has worked to help its members address climate change planning, with a focus on both hazard mitigation and adaptation strategies.

California Ocean Protection Council. 2018

Sea level rise

Case Study

Researchers at UCLA Law developed this study for Southern California decision-makers. The paper identifies how local governments can harness legal doctrines to support aggressive, innovative actions to address sea level rise while minimizing … their legal risk. The paper can help local governments understand the ways to use legal tools to enhance their adaptive capacity by providing them with the necessary legal authority for certain adaptation actions.

California Ocean Protection Council. 2018

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Case Study

Resilient by Design Bay Area Challenge developed a Finance Guide to assist the RBD design teams with an overview of funding and financing options. The Guide describes the broad range of traditional funding sources and financing mechanisms … for infrastructure in California, as well as alternative revenue sources that have not been widely used to-date.

California Ocean Protection Council. 2018

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Case Study

RISeR SF Bay is a National Science Foundation-funded, cross-cutting sea level rise project. It is aimed at developing new scientific knowledge that will be highly useful for sea level rise planners and decision-makers. RISeR is focused … on helping the Bay Area develop regional approaches to issues confronting SF Bay, including hydrodynamics, the transportation network, and governance.

City of San Diego. 2018

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Case Study

The City of San Diego seeks to develop proactive transportation system adaptation strategies to prepare for projected climate impacts, especially to ensure access to transportation for San Diego’s disadvantaged communities. The project will … explore the use of nature-based solutions that offer multiple co-benefits such as restoring coastal habitats, managing stormwater and runoff, protecting adjacent assets, and enhancing recreational opportunities.